Doctors on Monday delivered some good news to the nun who jumped from a window to escape a suspicious fire in the old convent on the grounds of St. Joseph Hill Academy early Saturday morning: They're confident of her full recovery.

"They have high hopes for mobility," said Sister M. William McGovern, provincial superior of the order's Holy Family Province in Arrochar.

Sister Regina broke three vertebrae in her back and was listed in critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, on Monday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Ssiter M. William, who visited with Sister Regina, noted the latter's positive attitude and increased appetite -- "she was in higher spirits today. She was very coherent and hungry."

Sister M. William said investigators told her the blaze started in two different locations in the building, on separate floors.

The fire at the convent follows on the heels of an act of vandalism in August that was caught on tape.

Then, the new convent was badly damaged after it was trashed by vandals just a week before the nuns were set to move in.

Surveillance cameras caught eight teens breaking in through the back door using a pry bar, leaving behind nearly $15,000 in damages. Another group of teens attempted to break in the next night, but set off an alarm.

Three youths from the Geller House -- a residential intervention center for special-needs youth located across the street from St. Joseph Hill Academy -- were arrested.

No connection has been made between the August break-ins and Saturday's fire.

The nuns' neighbor Anna Bentsianov said her daughters asked but one question of her: "Who would want to hurt a bunch of nuns?"

"It's a shame that this would happen in an institution like this," said Ms. Bentsianov.

"There's been a strange pattern and a lot of odd activity over there."

Ms. Bentsianov said she has never had a problem with Geller House in her six years on Columbia Avenue.

Her primary concern was for the injured nun as well as her daughters, a fourth-grader at the school and another who's a recent graduate.

"The children that go to the school all know the sisters, they were very involved. When we heard the news, we couldn't believe it. These are people we know."

As a police car remained stationed at the school's entrance on Monday night, Sister M. William said it's a miracle that Sister Regina survived the fall. "She told me that the angels took care of her. She was terrified, but she had enough faith to jump."